Rover 25 (1999 - 2005) 1.4 iS (103ps) 5d Owner Review

Overall I was very impressed by the car. As mentioned above, the car was well equipped, with many features you don't normally see fitted in such a small car in the sub £400 price bracket, such as an electric sunroof and a 6 CD Multi-changer. The performance was also very good. With a 1.4 litre engine producing over 100 BHP you would expect it to accelerate quicker than contemporary rivals such as the VW Polo 1.4 or the Vauxhall Corsa 1.4, which are less powerful, but this car would also give drivers of other, larger cars a bit of a shock when they saw that a small Rover was out accelerating them after a set of traffic lights turned green. The handling was superb too, with very well weighted and meaty steering, you could feel in complete control of the car and enjoy a swift drive on a country road without any concerns at all. Although many people say that Rovers are unreliable heaps, this car was rather dependable. In my time owning it I only encountered one issue, which was the alternator failing (however, this was the original one, which had done rather well to last well over 10 years before it went.) Even though it was a K-Series Rover, on its original head gasket, it didn't use a drop of coolant or show any sign of head gasket failure during my ownership of the car. Although you constantly hear people talking about how crap Rovers are, I am not convinced that is the case at all. It was excellent value for money and was a very nice car to own. When I first purchased it, a few jokes were made by family members about it being an "old man's car" and it being "a bit s**t," but by the end of my ownership, myself and most of the family were sad to see it go. However, I was so impressed by my Rover experience that within 2 weeks of selling it I had put a deposit down for another Rover, a top of the range 75. To conclude, I would say that if you are in the market for a small, cheap car, you should consider a Rover 25. You will most likely be surprised at how capable it really is.